Even though data security has been of paramount concern over the last few decades, vast majority of the data stored in typical memory media is still not safe from unauthorized access. In organizations, the threat of unauthorized access is ever looming and data access restriction is a very crucial task for the various departments of these organizations. For example, loss of intellectual property data can prove fatal for most organizations. It may also be important to provide different types of access rights to confidential or sensitive data to the employees in an organization. Further, loss of portable devices such as laptops or external storage devices poses a threat to data security and personal privacy.
Certain memory storage devices protect data from unauthorized access with the help of SmartCard interfaces. A SmartCard is a pocket-sized card which on contact with the memory storage device allows access to data stored on the storage device if the SmartCard is authentic. The SmartCard may be removed from contact with the storage device to protect the storage device. A user must remember to remove the SmartCard from contact with the storage device, after every use to prevent unauthorized access and data theft. There are high chances that the SmartCard will be left attached, leaving the hard drive completely vulnerable. Even if the SmartCard is protected by a PIN, there is always a possibility of hacking the PIN as the SmartCard is physically available to a hacker.
Some other storage devices may encrypt the data using a password to prevent unauthorized data access. It is, however, not only difficult to memorize and remember the password but also one cannot completely rely on the data security offered.
Thus, current solutions do not completely protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information from unauthorized or insecure access to a storage device. As a result, there exists a need to secure access to a storage device. There is a further need for a method and a system to allow different types of access for a user group to a memory device, segregated into multiple logical devices. The logical devices may be locked or unlocked by individual members of the group based on each person's access permission rights.